Indian Diaspora in the Gulf States Region

Indian Diaspora in the Gulf States Region
Excerpts from the Report of High Level committee submitted to Govt of India
Source:
indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter3.pdf

Entire gull region is sparsely populated, Saudi Arabia and Iraq being the only Gulf countries with
relatively large population of almost 22 and 23 million, respectively. As for the others, the corresponding
figures range from barely half a million to about 2.5.

Foreign nationals are not permitted to own any business or immovable property in the Gulf Countries.
They are required to make a local citizen or entity a majority even if sleeping partner in their enterprises.

The Indian Diaspora in the Gulf consists entirely of "non-resident indian citizens" (Or NRIs). A conservative
estimate of their number in the Gulf region, based on figures supplied by the Ministry of Labour and by
Indian Missions in that area would be at least 3 million. Their numbers make impressive reading even in
terms of their percentage of total population in the countries where they reside:
Country- Indian Migrants population (1999)- percentage of national population
Bahrain - 150,000 (20%) ; Kuwait - 200,000 (13%); Libya - 20,000
Oman - 450,000 (15%); Qatar - 100,000 (24%); Saudi Arabia - 1,200,000 (7%)
UAE - 750,000 (32%); Others - 130,000

Semiskilled unskilled workers still account for about 70% of the Indian migrants; while white-collar
workers are in the neighbourhood of 20% and professionals (doctors, engineers, architects, bankers
and charted acccountants) have a 10% share of the total.

Interactions and contacts of Indian migrants with the local people are limited and mostly of a formal
and impersonal nature. They are naturally drawn to their compatriots of a similar social status or
background. A large number of Indian associations are thus to be found throughout the region, which
are based on commonalities such as place of origin, religion, language or profession. As many as
a hundred such associations engaged i cultural and recreational activities exist in Kuwait and UAE,
while relatively smaller numbers exist in Saudi Arabia and Oman. The Indian Art Circle in Kuwait has
even constructed an auditorium with a seating capacit of 1200 persons, in which regular cultural
programmes and seminars are organized, and sometimes also performances by invited Indian artists.

The professional Indians and some of their white-collar workers are the only ones who qualify to
have their families with them due to the high basic income norms set by the Gulf Governments.
To enjoy such a privilege in the UAE, for instance, the monthly earnings of an NRI must be no less
than 4000 Dirhams (ca. Rs. 48000), or Dirhams 3000 plus accommodation. In Kuwait, the qualifying
minimum is even higher, namely, Kuwaiti Dinars 400 (Rs. 56000) per month.

The Indian migrants have taken the initiative of setting up a large number of schools throughout the
region which follow the Indian curriculam and thus meet the educational needs of their children. There
are no less than 38 such schools in UAE, 15 in Oman, 9 in Kuwait and 7 in Saudi Arabia which are
run and managed by Indian professionals.

The living and working condition of the unskilled and semi-skilled Indian workers in the Gulf leaves
much to be desired. A majority of these NRIs are young males. More than half their numbers have
invariably gone from Kerala, while the remaining persons have mostly been from Andhra Pradesh,
Goa, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Over 60% of them have had little formal education. On arrival in their
country of destination in the Gulf, they are usually fed and housed in barrack-like tenements and
engaged as labour on construction projects. Most of them are unmarried.

Out of a total of 294,000
Indian residents in Kuwait, about 113,000 of them are domestic servants, and, of them, about 49,000
are housemaids. There have been cases of Indian women who were recruited as cooks or housemaids
and were driven to desperation because of the ill treatment and molestation that they were subjected to.
In view of the serious problems faced by housemaids, the Govt. of India had suspended their
emigration to Kuwait in June 1999.

Dubai, Aug 27:, 2006
The total number of Indian workers in the United Arab Emirates' private sector
is currently between 1.2 million and 1.3 million, according to the latest figures.
Indian workers in the country represent some 50 percent of the labour force in
the private sector, according to a report.

Dubai, Aug 11, 2006:
Over four million Indian workers in the Gulf region remit nearly $5 billion a year, says a report.
Foreign workers, mainly from India and Pakistan, send home nearly nine percent of the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member nations' gross domestic product (GDP) each year.
The largest transfers originate from Saudi Arabia, which accounts for 63 percent of
all remittances, followed by the United Arab Emirates at 15 percent, according to a
report in the Gulf Daily News.

Chennai, Aug 01, 2006:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Monday announced a compensation of
Rs.200,000 to each of the families of the 16 Indian workers killed Sunday in a
fire accident in Bahrain.

Dubai, July 28, 2006
The Indian government will soon tighten immigration laws for unskilled labourers
travelling abroad for work.

New Delhi, July 28 2006
The number of Indians in the Gulf is estimated to be about four million.In Kuwait, 48 percent
of the Indians were working in the unorganised sector (43 percent in Saudi Arabia).
The minister also said that according to information received from Indian missions
in the Gulf, there were 1,116 Indian prisoners in Saudi Arabia, 825 in the United Arab
Emirates, 111 in Kuwait, 86 in Bahrain and 32 in Qatar.

TIRUNELVELI : The Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, which is already successfully running its
extension learning centre at Ajumen in the Middle East, has now decided to establish its extension
centres at Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai also to cater to the needs of students in the region, where
an estimated strength of over one million Indian population lives.

Speaking to reporters here, the Vice-Chancellor, Cynthia Pandian, who visited the `Indian Education
Exhibition 2006' held at Dubai recently to explore the possibilities of strengthening the university's
presence in the Gulf region, said that over 15 Indian universities had participated in the event, which
drew a huge crowd of Indian and Arab visitors, "who are desperately looking for quality education
in the field of information technology, management studies and commerce at an affordable cost".

The Vice-Chancellor also visited the educational institutions run by the United Arab Emirates
Governments and private agencies such as Inter-Nation University Centre, Abu Dhabi University,
and had discussions with the heads of the institutions and the faculty on the nature of education,
the impact, the quality of the syllabi and curriculum they prescribe, the quality of the faculty
members they recruit etc.

"As the fee structure prescribed for the courses being offered by the universities of other countries
in the `Global Knowledge Village' at Dubai is so high, they prefer Indian universities, which offer
high-quality education at low cost. And that is why we've decided to establish our Extension
Learning Centre in the Gulf region through the recently established MSU Centre for International
Education. We'll offer courses in information technology, biotechnology, microbiology and
bioinformatics, computer application etc," Dr. Cynthia said.

Gulf students, who join the science stream, will have to come to the MSU and stay here
for a month or so for the practical examinations.Apart from the Gulf region, the VC commenced
the groundwork on establishing our extension learning centres at Singapore, Kuala Lumpur,
Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

Moreover, she is also holding talks with the Sydney University, Australia for collaboration
between the Departments of Information Technology and Geo-Technology of both universities.
The Registrar, P. Chellathurai, the Director, Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental
Sciences, N. Sukumaran, who accompanied the VC during her Gulf visit, were present.
----- Bharathidasan University Distance Learning Center in Dubai
New Delhi/Dubai, July 26, 2006:
Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirapalli-based Bharathidasan University has denied closing its
distance-learning centre in Dubai and said exams that have been delayed will be held next month.
A university source told IANS that the centre, located at Dubai Knowledge Village,
had faced some problems that have now been solved. The source, however, did not
specify the problems. Around 150 students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), many
of them non-resident Indians (NRIs), were in a quandary after news appeared that the
university has abruptly closed down its Dubai centre. The centre was run by a
Chennai-based firm, Sriram Cybertech Systems (SCS). Knowledge Village officials
had also confirmed that the centre was no longer on its premises.

MADURAI, AUG. 12, 2004.
The restrictions imposed by Gulf countries on university admissions, particularly
in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have hit distance education enrolment in Indian universities
bringing down the number of non-resident Indian (NRI) admissions and revenue.

One of the universities that suffered heavily is the distance education major, Madurai
Kamaraj University, which lost over Rs. 50 lakhs in revenue this academic year
owing to regulations imposed by the Gulf countries on foreign universities.

The Vice-Chancellor, P.K. Ponnuswamy, told The Hindu today the decline in NRI
admissions was felt acutely by the varsity after restrictions were imposed through
the NRI Study Centres in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait. After the restrictions, which
came into effect last year, the number of enrolments came down substantially and the
revenue loss was huge as payments were in dollar terms.

Good demand

Though there was good demand from students in the Gulf for the university's courses,
the number admissions came down from 756 in the academic year 2003-04 to 190 in
the calendar year 2004. However, this was expected to improve shortly with the Indian
universities deciding to comply with the conditions.

According to the Vice-Chancellor, all leading universities that were tapping students
from the Gulf felt the impact of the curbs on admissions.

He said the foreign component for the university was high with around 1,700 students
on the distance education enrolment and the demand was good for business management
and science courses. However, things would improve from this year with the varsity
taking up the matter with the Gulf authorities, he said.

Prof. Ponnuswamy said the overall enrolment figure declined this year. The university
lost about 3,000 candidates over last year's owing to the stopping of direct admissions
to postgraduate courses through the open university system. It was a common
problem faced by all universities.

For information on Indian educational institutions of UAE
see
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/education1.asp

Anna University to set up off-shore campuses in the Gulf, Sri Lanka, Malaysia
and Singapore
source: The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/26/stories/2006032605620400.htm

Anna University has sought the permission of the Chancellor to set up offshore
campuses in certain countries. Once the legislation is suitably amended to provide
for this, the institution would approach the University Grants Commission in this
regard, said D. Viswanathan, Vice-Chancellor, Anna University.

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